News Archive

Stockholm’s Bridge to Atlanta and the USA

Board Member Martin Koepenick, founder of Innova International, who also is Chairman of SACC-Georgia’s Marketing Committee, visited our Stockholm-based corporate member Kilpatrick Townsend, and was welcomed by associate Glenn Nyström and trainee Emilia Strömberg. Emilia just returned to Stockholm after spending 1 year in Atlanta, during which she completed a Masters of Laws degree from Emory University School of Law, while also being part of SACC-Georgia’s team. The international law firm’s Swedish office, with 30 lawyers, officially joined the Chamber last year, as they have a great interest in expanding their network in the U.S., where Kilpatrick Townsend has no less than 15 offices – one of them being located in Atlanta; the heart and business center of the Southeast.

They discussed Kilpatrick Townsend’s U.S. Desk in Stockholm, among other topics, and we were very pleased to finally meet them in person and learn more about their operations. It is always interesting to engage with members who are based in both of our active regions – the State of Georgia and Sweden. That is also the case with our Swedish corporate members Thomas Concrete and Qmatic, with their Swedish offices being located on the west coast, in Gothenburg and Mölndal. As a Chamber of Commerce, we are always looking for ways to facilitate meetings, introductions and business opportunities across the borders.

We hope to continue fostering good relationships across the Atlantic ocean with our members, partners and other collaborators in Sweden through company visits, networking events/forums/seminars (which you can see more of below) and delegation trips whenever our Board of Directors and other members have the opportunity to go there. We are hoping to be able to meet many more at Amerikadagen (America Day) in Gothenburg (March 22, 2017), an excellent 1-day conference dedicated to connecting Swedish and American businesses with each other, while exploring themes, trends and topics relevant to both countries. For those interested in networking with the Swedish-American business community in the U.S. – SACC Summit in Washington D.C. (November 2-3, 2016) provides an excellent opportunity to do so.

13th Sweden-U.S. Entrepreneurial Forum

Stockholm, October 5, 2016

A mix of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, university and government leaders came together to accelerate successful ventures to the U.S. On behalf of the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce, Georgia, Innova’s Martin Koepenick attended the event, who is pictured above with Per Ericson, entrepreneur founder of Graytec AB, and Anne Lidgard, Director of Vinnova’s Silicon Valley office.

Says Martin, “A lot of energy was in the air, as Swedish entrepreneurs talked about their latest inventions and desire to market in the U.S. Venture capitalists from the U.S. and Sweden were upbeat about more Swedish breakthroughs to come. Software, Apps, and industrial offerings to lower water and energy consumption were key topics. California’s Silicon Valley is their principal focus, but Atlanta could be emerging. And don’t forget Minnesota, especially for health care. Stay tuned for some possible developments in the works for Atlanta.”

The forum was organized by ESRI in concert with the American Chamber of Commerce in Sweden.